Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Support Needs Perseverance” – Thursday, 17 July 2014 - Scripture: Jeremiah 36:17-32

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Support Needs Perseverance” – Thursday, 17 July 2014 - Scripture: Jeremiah 36:17 They asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”
18 Baruch said, “That’s right. Every word right from his own mouth. And I wrote it down, word for word, with pen and ink.”
19 The government officials told Baruch, “You need to get out of here. Go into hiding, you and Jeremiah. Don’t let anyone know where you are!”
20-21 The officials went to the court of the palace to report to the king, having put the scroll for safekeeping in the office of Elishama the secretary of state. The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He brought it from the office of Elishama the secretary. Jehudi then read it to the king and the officials who were in the king’s service.
22-23 It was December. The king was sitting in his winter quarters in front of a charcoal fire. After Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut them off the scroll with his pocketknife and throw them in the fire. He continued in this way until the entire scroll had been burned up in the fire.
24-26 Neither the king nor any of his officials showed the slightest twinge of conscience as they listened to the messages read. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah tried to convince the king not to burn the scroll, but he brushed them off. He just plowed ahead and ordered Prince Jerahameel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Jeremiah the prophet and his secretary Baruch. But God had hidden them away.
27-28 After the king had burned the scroll that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Get another blank scroll and do it all over again. Write out everything that was in that first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.
29 “And send this personal message to Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘God says, You had the gall to burn this scroll and then the nerve to say, “What kind of nonsense is this written here—that the king of Babylon will come and destroy this land and kill everything in it?”
30-31 “‘Well, do you want to know what God says about Jehoiakim king of Judah? This: No descendant of his will ever rule from David’s throne. His corpse will be thrown in the street and left unburied, exposed to the hot sun and the freezing night. I will punish him and his children and the officials in his government for their blatant sin. I’ll let loose on them and everyone in Jerusalem the doomsday disaster of which I warned them but they spit at.’”
32 So Jeremiah went and got another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, his secretary. At Jeremiah’s dictation he again wrote down everything that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. There were also generous additions, but of the same kind of thing.
“Support Needs Perseverance” by Norayr Hahan
It has happened many times throughout the course of history. A message is written, but it’s not easy to swallow; it’s one that brings conviction. There are two responses: repentance or rejection.
The message dictated by Jeremiah and written down by Baruch was rejected by the king. Piece by piece, the scroll was cut up and burned. How disheartening. Even the messenger became a wanted man. But God’s message would, could, or will not be stopped. Jeremiah and Baruch were sent into hiding. Just as God had written the Ten Commandments a second time on a tablet, Baruch wrote down the words of Jeremiah a second time on a second scroll.
It would have been easy for Jeremiah and Baruch to say they had tried their best. They had written a message and it was rejected. What more could they do? But God would not have them stop just because they encountered rejection and even persecution.

Today there are many people who would want to silence the truths declared in God’s Word. Rejection and even persecution should not lead us to retreat but to carry on. The results are not up to us. We are called to be faithful and to persevere.

Hymn for Today:

“O for a Faith That Will Not Shrink” by William H. Bathurst
1. O for a faith that will not shrink.
Though pressed by many a foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe;
2. That will not murmur nor complain
Beneath the chastening rod,
But, in the hour of grief or pain
Can lean upon its God;
3. A faith that shines more bright and clear
When tempests rage without;
That, when in danger, knows no fear,
In darkness feels no doubt;
4. That bears, unmoved, the world’s dread frown
Nor heeds its scornful smile;
That seas of trouble cannot drown,
Nor Satan’s arts beguile.
5. A faith that keeps the narrow way
Till life's last spark is fled,
And with a pure and heavenly ray
Lights up a dying bed.
6. Lord, give me such a faith as this,
And then, whate'er may come,
I taste e'en now the hallowed bliss
Of an eternal home.
Amen.
Thought for Today:
“When you take your stand for righteousness, remain standing!”(The Lunn Log).
Prayer Needs:
Many people in Niger will come to know Jesus the Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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